ࡱ> EGDo@ 2bjbj p p +BooI)  86 $Z z z " ( RTTTTTT$Rxx  x : : :   R: R: $: ^ ^ n {ꅼ (^ R0^  ^ ^ h? J: <  xxD: :Harry Chapins Flowers Are Red: A Musical Analysis Russell Nadel Singer-songwriter Harry Chapins song Flowers Are Red seems deceptively simple at first listening the melody is catchy, the instrumentation is charming, and the characters are realistic and easy to relate to. However, there is much more to this song than first meets the ear. Indeed, this simple story of a little boy who likes to paint flowers in every color of the rainbow is actually a bitter criticism of the American educational system, masked ironically in the cheerful, happy, innocent music played by Chapin and his band. This song demonstrates Chapins amazing ability to use all the elements of music, including timbre, instrumentation, vocal delivery, harmony, rhythm and melody, to augment the songs prevailing feeling of innocence, thereby heightening the irony of the songs message. Chapin, a gifted singer and song craftsman of the highest degree, is justly famous for writing song-stories, which tell complete tales of the lives of imaginary, but symbolic characters his most famous songs, Taxi and Cat in the Cradle, are two excellent examples. Flowers Are Red, however, while less famous than these, is at once more biting and tragic than either. In the story, an innocent child who loves using colors to paint flowers is chastised by an old-fashioned teacher, who coerces him through intimidation and punishment into verbally agreeing that flowers are red, and green leaves are green / Theres no need to see flowers any other way / Than the way they always have been seen. Then, when the child moves to another town and his new art teacher is more open-minded and amenable to the use of color, it is too late for the boy he has become thoroughly indoctrinated over time, and now passionlessly espouses the teachers (literally) monochromatic view of art without memory of the creativity and enthusiasm he once had. Even with the addition of Chapins afterthought coda, But there still must be a way to have our children say, / There are so many colors in the rainbow, the subtext of this song is that a child innocent, guileless, creative, and unadulterated by stodgy adult ideas of black and white or right and wrong is at first resistant to those ideas, but is forced to accept them by his closed-minded, joy-killing teacher. This eventually causes him to become old and stodgy himself long before his time. This message, that the evil of uncreative education is to blame for this boys loss of his unlimited, untapped creativity and potential, is a tragic one, and a call to arms for education reformers and activists everywhere. Flowers Are Red is also one of Chapins most musically subtle and effective songs. While the full ensemble of Chapins band includes acoustic guitar, drums/percussion, piano/synthesizer, bass guitar, three voices, cello, and electric guitar, the instruments are used sparsely and effectively in an almost pointillistic fashion. The drummer, for example, plays only rim shots, woodblock, and isolated cymbal hits throughout the piece (a rhythm which, with bare piano and acoustic guitar accompaniment and the addition of a vocalist saying rant, rant, rant, Chapin meaningfully calls an education beat [0:00-0:20]). The cello, electric guitar and synthesizer are reserved almost exclusively for brief, wailing instrumental solos between choruses that might be symbolic of the childs loss of innocence (1:21-1:28, 2:08-2:19, and 3:06-3:16). The piano is used playfully, adding swingy, pointillistic ornamentations to the texture, especially in the form of three characteristic, joyful blips before the main chorus (ex. 1:08) these might represent the boys opening joie de vivre. Chapin also used timbre effectively in this piece the instrumentation becomes much thinner and more exposed during the boys final two choruses, representing his acceptance of the teachers useless dogma, and becomes much thicker and more aggressive during the following verse, foreshadowing the bitter results revealed in the boys final chorus before the coda. The full ensemble only plays during the uplifting coda. Analysis of Chapins vocal delivery becomes crucial when attempting to look for subtextual meaning in this song. His vocal inflections throughout the course of the piece are more than just evocative of the boy; they actually represent the boys mood and the progression of his feelings. Chapin uses a thinner, reedy tone and simpler words when singing as the boy, but modulates his tone to represent the boys happy enthusiasm at first (1:10-1:20), guileless thought process during his punishment (2:32-2:47), hurt innocence at his acceptance of the teachers edict (2:48-3:05), and finally his fully-accepting, rote reciting tone during his final chorus (3:59-4:15). The first teacher is embodied in a very formal and haughty tone of voice, affected of accent and speech, and overly moral (0:42-1:06), and the combination of a deep bass voice and a high falsetto voice complements this portrayal effectively during her choruses. Finally, the second teachers portrayed voice subtly combines the fun, childlike enthusiasm of the boy at first, but still with the mature tones expected of an adult. The simple melodies and harmonies of this song also complement Chapins two-layered text. The boys choruses (ex. 1:09-1:21) are leapwise, expressive, and joyful, while the teachers (ex. 0:55-1:06) are mostly stepwise, dour, sequential, and stuck in a small range. The teachers lectures are also stuck in a very small melodic range, representing her closed-mindedness and unwillingness to think outside the box. The simple harmonic structure of the music subtly reinforces the subtext of the lyrics while all the choruses are major, the narrative verses are minor, using a 1-b7-b6-b7-1 ostinato bass line to set up the simple I-V-I harmonizations of the choruses. The rhythms and tempi of Flowers Are Red are also revealing, and have a layer of meaning deeper than the surface might indicate. Rhythmically, it is interesting that the boys and second teachers motives are played joyfully and swung, or in a sort of understated 12/8 meter, while the first teachers are played emotionlessly and very straight indeed (in firm 4/4 time). The childs last chorus before the coda (3:58-4:15), however, is sung straight, and combines the childs reedy tone of voice and speech sloppiness with the teachers lecturing tone. Although this last chorus is in a major key, if heard in the context of the songs subtext, it becomes a crushing revelation of the depth of the boys conversion to senseless grown-up dogma. All this is backed up by the tempi of the piece, as well the main body of the piece is in a jaunty allegro time, but slows to a crawl for the childs two Flowers are red choruses (2:38, 3:50), and stops altogether for the charming and he said repetitions before the same two choruses. This tempo stop is obviously paralleled by the final tempo stop just before the coda (4:15), during which Chapin says, But there still must be a way In this way, Chapin used tempo to complement the mood of each downtrodden moment, and thereby gave himself an opportunity to redeem an otherwise depressing song with the (ironic?) look-to-the-future coda. Flowers Are Red is an important song, especially for students, educators, and anyone who has ever had a bad experience with an uninspired or creativity-killing teacher (everyone). Its lyrics represent a vivid call to arms and to education reform, without using any revolutionary language or political rhetoric, and its music complements this subtext in a very subtle, but effective and inspiring way. This is, in short, the best kind of protest song effective, to the point, incisive, personal, and thoughtful, and without the inflationary and sometimes grating moods and morals. This should be in every teachers personal audio library, as an inspiration for what a good teacher can be and a warning reminder of the lasting results of closed-mindedness. Lyrics to Harry Chapins Flowers Are Red (orig. released on Living Room Suite, 1978) (Rant, rant, rant, rant, rant, rant Its an education beat.) The little boy went first day of school He got some crayons and started to draw He put colors all over the paper For colors was what he saw And the teacher said, What you doin young man? I'm paintin flowers, he said She said, It's not the time for art young man And anyway flowers are green and red Theres a time for everything young man And a way it should be done Youve got to show concern for everyone else For you're not the only one And she said, Flowers are red young man Green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen But the little boy said, There are so many colors in the rainbow So many colors in the morning sun So many colors in the flower and I see every one Well the teacher said, Youre sassy Theres ways that things should be And you'll paint flowers the way they are So repeat after me, And she said, Flowers are red young man Green leaves are green There's no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen But the little boy said, There are so many colors in the rainbow So many colors in the morning sun So many colors in the flower and I see every one The teacher put him in a corner She said, Its for your own good And you won't come out til you get it right And are responding like you should Well finally he got lonely Frightened thoughts filled his head And he went up to the teacher And this is what he said and he said, Flowers are red, green leaves are green Theres no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen Well, time went by like it always does And they moved to another town And the little boy went to another school And this is what he found The teacher there was smiling She said, Painting should be fun And there are so many colors in a flower So lets use every one But that little boy painted flowers In neat rows of green and red And when the teacher asked him why This is what he said and he said, Flowers are red, green leavesr green Theres no need to see flowers any other way Than the way they always have been seen. But there still must be a way to have our children say, There are so many colors in the rainbow So many colors in the morning sun So many colors in the flower and I see every one  Lyrics 1996-2002 Harry Chapin, taken from  HYPERLINK "http://www.harrychapin.com" www.harrychapin.com; album information from  HYPERLINK "http://www.allmusic.com" www.allmusic.com. PAGE  - PAGE 2 - Text copyright 2003 Russell A. Nadel. All rights reserved. Text copyright 2003 Russell A. Nadel. All rights reserved. 234BCDEkz ] j % ? 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